Obsessed

[AryaStark]

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What do you guys think of the new show Obsessed on A&E? Accurate? Realistic? Ethical? Are these typical types of patients you see? I'm interested in any thoughts you have on it. For those unfamiliar, it's a show focusing on people who have severe OCD. In a given episode it follows pre treatment, about 12 weeks of therapy sessions and updates on post-treatment. It's on Monday nights at 10 on A&E.

 

[futureapppsy2]

I've watched this show, but for some reason, it doesn't seem to have the same pathos as its cousin, "Intervention."

 

[deadmau5]

I find it alright. It doesn't delve into the treatment as much as I thought it would. They basically only show Session 1, 6, and 12. The therapists don't really describe the reasoning behind what they're doing so much. They just sort of delve right into things that will work.

I don't think they are typical patients. I mean sure, there was a guy with contamination-type OCD, that's pretty typical. Last week this girl had obsessions over "K" sounds and "hand placement" - very rare. Never seen anything like that. Thoughts of harming others is not that rare, but relatively rare compared to contamination-type OCD.

 

[Wildcat06]

I've only seen the episode with the hand placement/k sounds patient and the harming others patient and I thought it was great that they were showing the range, rather than just the contamination-type OCD we are more familiar with.

And I like that it showed quite a bit of the treatment, in comparison with Intervention which shows almost exclusively the negative behaviors. I liked that the one therapist I saw with the fear of harming others was a CBT therapist and explained a little of the rational of exposure therapy. I also like that they seemed to be practicing evidenced-based treatments, as opposed to "interventions."

 

[futureapppsy2]

Good point. I was just referring to it from a purely emotional standpoint. *shrug* I always wonder what they do in the four sessions between the intial assessment and the first exposure. Thought/mental exposure, perhaps?

 

[Wildcat06]

oh definitely. Intervention is incredibly engaging and shows glimpses of the symptomology we discuss with clients but don't generally get to see.

i would love to see the thought exposure, but i'm guessing it's not as entertaining to the average viewer as a patient holding a knife to her therapist's throat 😱